LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas)

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LNG stands for Liquefied Natural Gas, which is the English abbreviation for liquefied natural gas. Natural gas is a combustible gas that is extracted naturally from gas fields, with methane being its main component. LNG is produced by cooling natural gas, which is gaseous at normal pressure, to -162°C to turn it into a liquid. After being liquefied, natural gas can **save storage and transportation space as well as costs, and it also features a high calorific value and excellent performance.** 　　LNG is a clean and efficient energy source. Since importing LNG helps energy-consuming countries diversify their energy supply and ensure energy security, while exporting LNG enables natural gas-producing countries to effectively develop their natural gas resources, increase foreign exchange earnings, and promote economic development, LNG trade is becoming a new focus in the global energy market. 　　As a clean energy source, natural gas is gaining increasing popularity; many **consider LNG to be the preferred fuel, and its share in the energy supply is rising rapidly. Liquefied natural gas is growing at a rapid rate of about 12% per year, making it one of the fastest-growing energy sectors in the world. In recent years, the production and trade of LNG on a global scale have become increasingly active. LNG has become a scarce clean resource and is emerging as a new focus in the world’s oil and gas industry. To ensure a diversified energy supply and improve the structure of energy consumption, major energy-consuming countries are paying increasing attention to the import of LNG; Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Europe are all building LNG receiving stations on a large scale. International oil giants are also shifting their new sources of profit growth to the LNG sector; LNG is set to become the next globally sought-after energy commodity after oil. 　　The utilization of natural gas in China is highly uneven, with natural gas accounting for a very small proportion of China’s energy supply. Looking at the development landscape of natural gas in China, natural gas resources are limited, and production levels are far below demand, resulting in an increasingly large gap between supply and demand. Although it has not yet reached a large scale, the characteristics of LNG determine that its development is proceeding very rapidly. It is foreseeable that over the next 10-20 years, LNG will become the main component of China’s natural gas market. 　　As China’s economy continues to develop at a rapid pace, there is an extreme shortage of energy to power it. China’s energy structure is dominated by coal, with oil and natural gas accounting for only a very small proportion, far below the world average. With the **continuous increase in energy demand, the introduction of LNG will play an important role in optimizing China’s energy structure, effectively addressing the challenges related to energy supply security and environmental protection, and facilitating sustainable economic and social development. 　　China is paying increasing attention to the development of the LNG industry. The coastal LNG projects that China is planning and implementing include those in Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, Liaoning, and other regions; these projects will ultimately form a network of coastal LNG receiving stations and transmission pipelines. 　　According to China’s LNG utilization plan, domestic production capacity will reach 240 billion cubic meters by 2020. As for the import of natural gas, the National Development and Reform Commission estimates that by 2020, China will need to import 35 billion cubic meters, which is equivalent to 25 million tons per year – seven times the total volume received by the receiving stations in East China.